


my bones are safe, and my heart can rest knowing it belongs to you

by sailsandscepters



Category: Elena of Avalor (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, soulmate!au writing appears on skin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:42:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27186740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailsandscepters/pseuds/sailsandscepters
Summary: Elena was six when her parents first told her the story of how soulmates can write on each other's skin. Little did she know that a reply wouldn't be written back to her for decades to come.Takes place pre-coronation.
Relationships: Elena Castillo Flores/Naomi Turner
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	my bones are safe, and my heart can rest knowing it belongs to you

**Author's Note:**

> the title comes from the song "home" by reese lansangan. i can't believe it took me three years to finally publish this...

Elena was six when her parents first told her about soulmates. Figuring she was old enough to finally understand, her parents recounted to her the tale of the lovers who's fates were bound together by skin and ink.

That night, she wrote a simple introduction in her almost perfect calligraphy.

_'Hello, my name is Elena. What's yours?'_

Her parents told her that she shouldn't think too much about it, but the lack of a reply still stung. Was she too forward? Did her soulmate not like her handwriting? Could her soulmate even read? Speak the same language?

Regardless, Elena developed a habit of doodling on her arm, just to show her soulmate that she was there. Little did she know that a reply wouldn't be written for decades to come.

\---

Naomi was five when her parents told her what a soulmate was. After expressing her curiosity for the matching lists written on their forearms, the two sea captains sat her down and explained after chuckling to each other about her youth.

"So I have a soulmate too?" Naomi stared at the blank canvas of her forearm, finding the prospect of someone else's writing on it unimaginable had she not just gotten a demonstration from her parents.

"Everyone has a soulmate, Nomes," her father said, picking his daughter up and sitting her on his lap. "We just have to be really patient because soulmates can sometimes take a while to show up," he said, glancing at his wife. Scarlett laughed and added, "but they're worth the wait."

That night, Naomi picked up her favorite pen and wrote 'Hi' on her arm before going to sleep. The disappointment of the next morning would last her the next couple of years before she would finally decide to stop. After all, what was the use of trying to write to someone who never wrote back?

\---

Elena was twenty-one? Twenty-seven? She couldn't quite remember. It was pretty hard to keep track of time when most of her days consisted of floating in a void with nothing other than a one way window to keep her company. Alakazar had left the amulet face-up on the nightstand next to the bed he slept in. Elena could hear him snoring, and the sound got a half-hearted giggle out of her. It might have been funnier if she didn't feel so sorry for the old wizard. Spending the rest of his lifetime trying to save her. She found herself very grateful and full of admiration for his loyalty to the royal family.

She had probably counted her thirty-fourth jaquin to help her fall asleep when she raised her arms for a yawn and saw something strange. It was a mark on her skin, forming a crookedly written 'Hi.' It was endearingly innocent, though she had no clue how it got there. It hadn't been there in the past twenty something years, she would know. So where—?

_No way._

The discovery almost made Elena jump up and down (if she could have). But the handwriting looked similar to a child's. Surely she wasn't to fall in love with one? Then again, she seemed to not have aged at all since she was trapped, so maybe there really was more to her story than the fates had in mind. Elena looked at the crooked writing and thought of a reply, only to realize to her horror, that she couldn't. Grief flooded her as she smiled sadly at the script and whispered an apology into it, hoping that maybe her soulmate would be able to understand.

\---

It would be eleven years later when she would finally meet the young girl who would free her. Alakazar had passed, and Elena had managed to find herself in the jewelry storage of a castle she'd forgotten the kingdom of (Enchancia, she would learn later). The newcomer of the castle, Sofia, a little girl of about eight, seemed promising. Elena would keep an eye on her.

As for the writings on her arm, they'd significantly dwindled in their vigor since their beginning. Elena hoped that her soulmate didn't hate her. Today the writing consisted of math equations. Elena giggled. She hoped that her soulmate wasn't cheating...

\---

In three years, her trust in Sofia paid off. She could finally feel the ground beneath her feet, smell fresh air again. It was an intoxicating experience. For a fleeting moment, the thought of replying to her soulmate crossed her mind, but then she had to confront Shuriki and not having a coronation and learning how to rule and... 

(It didn't help that her soulmate stopped writing on their person at around that time. Out of sight, out of mind.)

\---

They were curled up together at the lighthouse, swaddled up in fluffy blankets and watching the ships make lazy rounds in the waning light of the sunset, when the subject came up.

"Naomi, have you ever met your soulmate?" Elena asked, leaning her back to the cool metal base of the light writer. Naomi kept her gaze on the shimmering oranges and purples of the water, her head resting on Elena’s shoulder. 

"Nope," the blonde replied. She proceeded to further curl in around Elena, her arms circling the princess’s waist and their legs tangling together. However, the cynicism in her tone threw Elena off, and newfound curiosity made her sit up straighter. Naomi whined to voice her slight dismay.

"Do you want to meet your soulmate?"

The idle sounds of the boats and nightlife greeted her ears before Naomi's answer did. 

"...Maybe. But I wouldn't be surprised if I never met them."

Their conversation fizzled for a while. Then:

"Why not?"

"... I'm.." Naomi looked down, refining the thoughts in her head before voicing them. "Let’s just say my soulmate... isn't a big fan of writing back," she settled.

"Aww, but they must've written back at least once, right?" Elena tried, always one for optimism.

"Elena... my soulmate has never written back to me. Not even once. Sometimes I think maybe they just don't like me, but," Naomi sighed, the topic seeming to drain the life from her just to think about. After a moment, she even seemed to have forgotten her train of thought, her gaze looking past the glass, past the ocean and the horizon towards something Elena couldn't follow.

"... but?" Elena urged, wanting to get to the bottom of her friend's grief. Naomi played with the square of blanket in her lap.

"I don't know, maybe they died or something. At least that's what I've been thinking for the past couple of years," Naomi's face was devoid of emotion and a part of Elena wished she never asked. She scooted as close to Naomi as she could and gave her a side-hug. _I'm sorry._ To which Naomi responded by resting her head on Elena's shoulder. _It's okay._

A warm summer silence permeated the lighthouse floor for a few more moments before Naomi started.

"So, have _you_ met your soulmate?" Naomi smiled a little at the small laugh that Elena gave, though it was tinged with a little bit of bitterness. She wondered how long until moments like these with Elena won't exclusively be hers. She wondered when she won't be the only one to make Elena laugh like that.

"You know, while I was trapped in that amulet, I thought my soulmate died too. They never wrote me anything, that was until I think probably my twenty-seventh birthday? Well, around there. I started to get writing on my arms. But they all looked really bad," Naomi felt the shake of Elena's shoulders as she chuckled, getting her to smile as well. "At first I thought my soulmate just happened to have really bad handwriting, but then I realized—"

"Oh! That was when you soulmate was born!" Naomi blurted out, snapping her fingers. The enthusiasm of the reply made Elena bite back a laugh.

"....or you know, knew how to write? I doubt a newborn baby could write on their forearm yet." Elena suggested. Naomi hummed in agreement before urging Elena to continue.

"So I saw the words appearing, but I didn't have anything with me in the amulet to write with. Eventually, the messages stopped being addressed to me. They still wrote on their arm though, so I knew they were well, but I still feel bad for not ever replying."

"Why don't you write to them now?"

"I was about to, one time, but I don't know what to say that doesn't sound like a far-fetched lie. 'Sorry I haven't written back ever, I was stuck in a magical jewel for forty-one years?' That just seems cruel."

"But it's the truth," Naomi laughed. "Don't you want to meet your soulmate?"

"Yes? I think." There was a pause in conversation as Elena pondered. "...your soulmate is supposed to be the one person that the universe feels you're most compatible with, and if anyone can live with me and my corny jokes..." Elena jibed. Naomi's desire to voice that she would, died in her throat. Another couple beats of quiet passed before Naomi remembered a question she had about Elena's soulmate.

"Do you remember any of the things your soulmate wrote?"

"Hmm. The first one they ever wrote to me was 'Hi.'" Naomi wrote that for her soulmate too. Lots of kids did. It wasn't anything special. Naomi wished she could've written something better for her soulmate. "Then they asked me for my name. But I couldn't respond. Sometimes they would tell me about their day. Once they even wrote down the cheats to their math test," Elena smiled. 

"I did that once, too," Naomi commented. "I wasn't very good at hiding it though, so I got caught, but at least I knew not to cheat again."

"Naomi!" Elena exclaimed, pretending to be offended. "Council members should set an example for their people. Think of the children!"

Naomi cracked up at Elena's exaggerated 'higher authority' voice, causing the princess join in as well.

"What else?" Naomi asked when they'd calmed down. Elena looked at her strangely before catching on.

"Oh! Right. Well, after a while, my soulmate started to leave weird lists on my arm. Stuff like, 'Log in the Oathkeeper, Log in Oblivion, Get eggs, Tell dad ST is coming' just random things. Those were just the ones that I remember the most," Elena continued to try and remember more of the writings she saw during her time in the amulet, but Naomi was in disbelief. _No. No way. It can't be Elena. Elena was the princess of Avalor. She can't be..._

A shock of cold air hit Elena's side as Naomi suddenly got up from their embrace and slid down the lighthouse stairs, shouting behind her that she would be right back. Entirely dumbfounded, Elena was left to recover from the abruptness of the event. She would've called out as to why her friend was in such a mad dash, but she would find out soon. At the moment, Naomi needed a pen.

\---

Elena's eyes almost left their sockets when she saw the word forming on her skin.

**'Hi.'**

She scrambled for the red pen she always kept tucked away in her belt and clicked the top to reply. But what should she write back? Eager not to keep her soulmate waiting she penned her answer.

_'Hi.'_

Feeling like it lacked, Elena added:

_'I'm sorry.'_

**'Why?'**

The word perplexed her. Why shouldn't she be sorry? After all, she'd never written back.

_'For not writing anything back all this time.'_

**'That's okay. You're writing back now.'**

_'...there's no way you can just forgive me that easily.'_

**'Why not?'**

_'I didn't reply to you for years! Aren't you angry at me?'_

**'No.'**

_'And why not?'_

**'Because I know why.'**

_'How could y-'_

**'Look up.'**

Elena raised her head and Naomi was there. She didn't even hear her come back up. A pen was in her hand, poised over her arm. Naomi grinned.

"Hi."

\---

Elena couldn’t tell when then tears came in, but very soon she’d pulled Naomi down and was sobbing into her shoulder. Naomi hugged the elated princess back tightly, though a few tears did escape her. 

“I-it’s been you this whole... this whole time?” Elena asked, pulling back.

“The universe seems to say so,” Naomi said with a watery grin of her own. Much too shocked of the recent discovery, both of their knees gave way, finding them holding each other on the lighthouse floor.

“It couldn’t have picked me a better soulmate,” Elena smiled, a smile that filled Naomi with warmth all the way down to her toes. For a moment, they could only gaze at each other, basking under the light of the setting sun. It wasn’t long before the proximity of their faces came to their attention though and their cheeks began to take on a warmer hue. Emboldened by this new discovery, Naomi scrounged up the nerve to ask something she’s wanted to ask for a long time.

“Elena?”

“Yes?”

“May I kiss you?”

“Naomi, you’ve never had to ask.”

It was a simple, sweet, and warm press of their lips against each other—and it couldn't be more perfect. Elena was defenseless to the deluge of kisses that followed as Naomi 's lips gave chase, unable to get enough of her. They fell, in a heap of blankets, kisses, laughter, and rosy cheeks. Elena's giggling eventually evolved into unabashed laughter when Naomi laid her down gently and continued to press her lips to every bit of Elena's skin she could find. She was planting a kiss on Elena's collar when warm hands cupped her cheeks to bring her back up.

Elena looked so radiant under the light of the stars that Naomi was sure her eyes were gazing down at a goddess. The princess pulled Naomi down by her nape and they shared their sweetest kiss yet. When they parted, Elena closed her eyes and pressed their foreheads together, willing for nothing to have only been a cruel dream.

"You're not dreaming, Elena." Naomi laughed, taking one of Elena's hands and cradling it to her cheek. "I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere," she added, kissing Elena's palm.

Elena felt her heart overflow with love as she held what felt like her entire world in her hands. She pressed a kiss to Naomi's lips again, longer and more fervently this time. It left both of them breathless and Naomi raised a brow in question.

Elena bit her lip. "Just making sure." 

\---

And amongst many of the cheesy things they said and did that night, many months later, Elena still found herself waking up and doubting the whole thing even happened. It was, after all, sometimes a little hard to believe you were finally with the love of your life after having been stuck in an amulet for forty-one years.

But then she wakes up to see little hearts drawn on her wrist or little notes to let her know Naomi was thinking about her and she can't help but smile. So she picks up a pen to write the first thing on her mind.

_'Hi.'_


End file.
